Computers have become an integral tool of society, and their use continues to increase. Whether at the workplace or at remote locations ranging from conference centers to coffee shops, computers have become a necessary tool. Moreover, the portability of laptop computers has made their use even more pervasive, given the added mobility they offer over traditional “desktop” computers. The ease with which a laptop computer may be transported and prepared for use in any environment has users setting up impromptu computing centers at any location. However, often times limited space is available to serve as a base for such an impromptu computing center. For instance, in a conference center, it is often preferred to provide a table or desk to provide attendees a work surface on which they can take notes, spread out papers, etc., leaving little room (much less connectivity) for a laptop computer.
A wide variety of desks have been designed to accommodate desktop computers, often including large storage compartments for the central processing unit, pull-out keyboard trays, openings in the desk surface to receive wires running to monitors, mouses, keyboards, and the like, and large monitors provided on the top of the desk surface, thus using valuable space that could otherwise be used as a work surface. Portable computers, such as laptop computers, in one aspect provide an advantage over desktop computers in that they simply take up less space than is required for a desktop computer and all of its required peripheral devices. However, the portability of the laptop computer, while minimizing the space necessary to establish a computing environment, also makes the laptop a ready target for theft. For instance, if at a conference center, a user may wish to leave their laptop setup at their seat location during a break, leaving the laptop unattended on the work surface, thus enticing unscrupulous passers-by to walk off with the user's computer.
Further, in such a remote environment, a computer user will often desire computer connectivity, at a minimum to power and preferably to data connections and/or connections to other peripheral computer equipment. Of course, traditional work surfaces typically provided in these environments lack such connectivity features.
Thus, there remains an unmet need to provide a work surface, such as a conference table, that in can be used as a traditional work surface, but that can also serve as a workstation, for example a computer workstation, that provides sufficient security to prevent unauthorized access to the computer and that provides computer connectivity to, for instance, power, data, and other computer connections.